Big 12 race heats up in middle

Four teams battle for couple of spots in NCAA Tournament

Published 6:30 am, Saturday, February 15, 2003

The stretch drive in the Big 12 Conference season is under way and even though four teams are bunched at the top, the best race isn't among Oklahoma State, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

Those teams are assured a spot in the NCAA Tournament. For them, the rest of the regular season and Big 12 Tournament will determine where they are seeded in the NCAAs.

The next four teams -- Missouri, Colorado, Texas Tech and Texas A&M -- have more at stake. Missouri likely is a sure thing in the NCAA mix even though it lost Wednesday at A&M, but it's probable that only one of the other three teams will get a bid.

Colorado, A&M and Tech have 4-5 conference records with seven regular-season games remaining. If one of the teams finishes 4-3 down the stretch and makes it to .500, that team likely will get the final Big 12 NCAA bid.

It's not guaranteed that six Big 12 teams will make it, but finishing .500 in one of the top conferences in the nation usually paves the way to the NCAA Tournament.

For Colorado and Texas A&M, who meet tonight in Boulder, Colo., reaching that pinnacle would represent a major turnaround. Colorado has been in the NCAA Tournament once (1998) since 1969; A&M last played in the NCAA in 1987 and has been in two Tournaments since 1980.

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Moreover, the Aggies (12-8, 4-5) have finished over .500 only once since 1989, never have won more than five games in a Big 12 season and never have won a game (0-6) at the Big 12 Tournament. But that doesn't stop them from dreaming big dreams.

"It's all we've talked about from the beginning of the season," senior guard Bernard King said of the possibility of making the NCAA Tournament. "This is really the first time since I've been here that we've gone this late into the season with a chance to do something. It's exciting."

The Aggies won't have to look elsewhere for help. They play Colorado and Texas Tech in road games the next two Saturdays, so they control their own destiny.

Winning at either arena won't be easy. Colorado is 10-1 at home with wins over Kansas and Texas. Tech is 9-1 and will get a chance for an upset when it hosts Oklahoma today.

"A lot of teams go in there (Colorado) and get beat up," A&M coach Melvin Watkins said. "Getting a win up there would really be big, but we know that's going to be a tall order."

The Aggies will bring something to Colorado rarely associated with an A&M team at this point of the season -- momentum. The Aggies knocked off Missouri 73-71 on Wednesday night to make things interesting this weekend. The victory got the attention of the Colorado players.

"I was really surprised by that," senior forward Stephane Pelle told the Denver Post. "I didn't think Texas A&M had it in them to pull out a win like that. I'll tell you what, they're coming into our town, and they're in the same boat we're in. We can't take them lightly."

Colorado would seem to have the advantage in the final seven games. The Buffaloes play four home games and, perhaps more important, have only two games against the top four superpowers. They are at Kansas and play Oklahoma State at home.

The Aggies have four road games and three games against teams in the top four (Kansas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.) That puts emphasis on tonight's game at Colorado and next week at Tech.

"This is a big game at Colorado because we're 4-5 and they're 4-5," King said. "Somebody's going to be 5-5, and that's what we're pushing for."

Texas Tech has the most difficult schedule of the three teams locked up for sixth place. Though the Red Raiders have four home games, they also have five of their remaining seven games against top four teams. They play at Texas and Oklahoma State and host Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma today.

In one way, those games will give the Red Raiders a chance to spring an upset that would improve its Ratings Point Index, a formula the NCAA weighs to help determine at-large teams in the field of 65 that make up its tournament.

The Red Raiders are No. 40 in one of the RPI lists. (The NCAA does not make its RPI numbers public.) The Aggies are No. 53 and Colorado No. 58 in that same mock-up RPI.

Watkins doesn't want his players to get too caught up in the importance of their remaining seven games. He says he has not mentioned recently the possibility of the NCAA Tournament or the National Invitation Tournament, instead trying to keep the focus on the next game. At this point, he's less concerned about the big picture.

"What we talk about is taking care of our business," Watkins said. "There's no question every team would like to make the NCAA Tournament, and it is sitting out there, but we're not focusing on it. If you spend too much time worrying about it, you might get too caught up in it and forget to take care of business. Especially the type of team we are."

Rice and Houston are faced with similar logjams in the middle of their conferences. After beating Texas-El Paso on Thursday night, the Owls are 6-5 in the Western Athletic Conference. They are in fifth place, but only one game out of third.

The Owls host Boise State this afternoon at Autry Court. With a win, they could inch closer to the top. But a loss could send Rice all the way down to seventh place in the WAC standings.

Houston is 4-5 in the Conference USA, tied for fourth place in the National Division. The Cougars get a chance to move up today when they play South Florida (5-5), the team directly ahead of them in the standings.